John Mulaney and Nick Kroll explain the dangers of turning into old men every single day for 138 days for “Oh, Hello”

While nothing could stop Hamilton from being *the* Broadway show of 2016, there was one little Broadway production that caught the attention of celebrities and comedy fans alike. Oh, Hello followed George St. Geegland and Gil Faizon as they fought, played pranks on guests, and explained theater for two hours every night. For 138 performances, John Mulaney and Nick Kroll transformed into George and Gil, respectively, donning unkempt gray wigs, drawn-on liver spots, and turtlenecks.

The incredible makeup — which was done by Mulaney’s wife, Annamarie Tendler — required Mulaney and Kroll to have not only their faces aged but their hands as well. During a recent press day for Oh, Hello, Mulaney and Kroll talked about the makeup process and revealed the most dangerous part of it all: old man hands.

The duo recalled trying to quickly get out of costume to see their famous visitors, but their rushed attempts at shedding their (fake) aging skin didn’t always go according to plan. Mulaney brought up a hilarious experience with John Slattery, in which the Mad Men star was distracted by his old-man hands.

"After one show, I got [the makeup] off but my hands were still done," Mulaney said. "We were talking to John Slattery backstage. We were talking, talking and then I grabbed the wipe while I was talking to him and I wiped [the makeup] off and he went, 'Oh, thank God.' He's like, 'I had this whole thing in my head of this young guy is so sick and his hands show it. His face looks young, but his hands, he's dying inside.'"

Mulaney and Kroll also noted that transforming into George and Gil meant looking at a version of their future selves. “We got liver spots painted on our hands every day and we get to see what we were gonna basically look like as old men,” Kroll said. 

Mulaney added that his transformation into an old man was probably most traumatic for his wife. 

"My wife was our makeup artist and wound supervisor so she would be like speckling me and then be like, 'Fuck,'" Mulaney continued. "She realized when she's 60 and beautiful, she'll be married to me 65 looking like Martin Landau. Not good Martin Landau."

Now we can all see Mulaney and Kroll as their old and obscene counterparts with their new Netflix special Oh, Hello on Broadway.